DRAFT June 2007

Regional Planning Section of

Regional Haze SIP/TIP Template

Draft 2007

Mid-Atlantic/Northeast Visibility Union (MANE-VU)

Edited by MARAMA

June 2007

Section 3. Regional Planning Section

Table of Contents

3. Regional Planning

List of Appendices

Section 3 Regional Planning

·  MANE-VU’s Final Interim Principles for Regional Planning ##

3.  Regional Planning

In 1999, EPA and affected States/Tribes agreed to create five Regional Planning Organizations (RPOs) to facilitate interstate coordination on Regional Haze SIP/TIPs. The State/Tribe of <insert State/Tribe name> is a member of the Mid-Atlantic / Northeast Visibility Union (MANE-VU) RPO. Members of MANE –VU are listed in Table <insert table #>.

Table ## MANE-VU Members

Connecticut / Pennsylvania
Delaware / Penobscot Nation
District of Columbia / Rhode Island
Maine / St. Regis Mohawk Tribe
Maryland / Vermont
Massachusetts / U.S. Environmental Protection Agency*
New Hampshire / U.S. National Park Service*
New Jersey / U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service*
New York / U.S. Forest Service*

*Non-voting members

This SIP/TIP utilizes data analysis, modeling results and other technical support documents prepared for MANE-VU members. By coordinating with MANE-VU and other RPOs, <enter State/Tribe name> has worked to ensure that its long term strategy and BART determinations provide sufficient reductions to mitigate impacts of sources from <enter State/Tribe name> on affected Class I areas.

A copy of MANE-VU’s Final Interim Principles for Regional Planning can be found in Appendix <insert letter>.

Information and a description of the processes used to consult regarding baseline determinations, natural background levels, and reasonable progress goal development is available in later sections of this SIP/TIP.

Since its inception on July 24, 2001, MANE-VU established an active committee structure to address both technical and non-technical issues related to regional haze. The primary committees are the Technical Support Committee (TSC) charged with assessing the nature and magnitude of the regional haze problem within MANE-VU, interpreting the results of technical work, and report on such work to the MANE-VU Board. The Communications Committee is charged with developing approaches to inform the public about the regional haze problem in the region and making any recommendations to the MANE-VU Board to facilitate that goal. Ultimately, policy decisions are made by the MANE-VU Board. In addition to the formal working committees, there are also three standing working groups of the TSC. They are broken down by topic area: Emissions Inventory, Modeling, and Monitoring/Data Analysis Workgroups.

MANE-VU’s work is managed by the Ozone Transport Commission (OTC) and carried out by OTC, the Mid-Atlantic Regional Air Management Association (MARAMA), and the Northeast States for Coordinated Air Quality Management (NESCAUM). The states along with federal agencies and professional staff from OTC, MARAMA and NESCAUM are members of the various committees and workgroups.

The TSC has evolved to function as a valuable sounding board for all the technical projects and processes of MANE-VU. The TSC has established a process to ensure that important regional haze related projects are completed in a timely fashion, and members are kept informed of all MANE-VU tasks and duties.

The Communications Committee oversaw the development of MANE-VU’s newsletter and outreach tools both for stakeholders and the public regarding regional issues within MANE-VU’s members.

MANE-VU established a Policy Advisory Group (PAG) to provide advice to decision-makers on policy questions. FLMs, EPA, states, and tribes are represented on the PAG. It met on an as needed basis

The following points highlight many of the ways MANE-VU member states and tribes have cooperatively addressed regional haze.

·  Budget Prioritization: MANE-VU developed a process to coordinate MARAMA, OTC and NESCAUM staff in developing budget priorities, project rankings, and the eventual federal grant requests.

·  Issue Coordination: MANE-VU established a conference call and meeting schedule for each of its committees and workgroups. In addition, its MANE-VU Directors regularly discuss pertinent issues.

·  SIP Policy and Planning: MANE-VU states/tribes collaborated on the development of a SIP Template.

·  Capacity Building: To educate its staff and members MANE-VU included technical presentations on conference calls and organized workshops with nationally recognized experts. Presentations on data analysis, BART work, inventory topics, modeling, control measures etc. were an effective education, and coordination tool.

·  Routine Operations: MANE-VU staff at OTC, MARAMA, and NESCAUM established a coordinated approach to: budget, grant deliverables/due-dates, workgroup meetings, inter-RPO feedback, etc.

Page 4